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Ryanair Group Chief Executive Michael O’Leary warned that there is a real risk of further capacity cuts to the airline’s services outside of Dublin Airport, if the government does not move to quickly open air travel. abroad.
O’Leary also said that although a final decision will not be made until the end of the month, it is now “very likely” that Ryanair’s bases in Cork and Shannon will be closed for the winter.
Last week, Ryanair informed its staff in Cork and Shannon that it intends to close both bases for the winter, unless the Government relaxes its quarantine restrictions on passengers flying to this country.
O’Learty said he welcomed the government’s move to adopt the EU system on overseas travel, but said the airline remains highly critical of the delay in doing so.
“Once again, they are talking about moving to that on October 13,” he said.
“The point we have repeatedly made is that NPHET and the Government have mismanaged air travel in and out of the island since July 1.”
“The Germans and Italians have been allowing travel within the EU without restrictions, without quarantine since 1 July.
“Their Covid case rates are below 20. Ireland has been locked in like North Korea. We are the only EU country that has these EU restrictions, and yet our Covid case rate in recent years 14 days is now above 50 “.
Mr O’Leary added that there is clearly something wrong with testing and tracking here in Ireland.
We believe that Eamon Ryan, the Transport Minister, should act today to immediately adopt the European system, and under the European system, 21 out of 27 EU countries would be removed from Ireland’s quarantine list, most notably the UK and Germany, where the Covid case rates are significantly lower than in Ireland, “he said.
O’Leary spoke to RTÉ News after the airline’s AGM in Dublin, from which the media was excluded due to capacity limitations due to public health restrictions.
The airline chief said his message to shareholders had been one of cautious optimism.
“Clearly Covid has devastated the airline industry, but with our recent fundraising we have one of the strongest balance sheets in the airline industry,” he said.
“We have reduced our costs in the last three or four months and we will recover very strongly with low fees once a solution or vaccine for Covid-19 emerges.”
However, O’Leary cautioned that ongoing travel restrictions in Ireland mean further cuts are possible here.
“I think now it’s very likely that Cork and Shannon are closed for the winter,” he said, referring to the company’s bases at those airports, and the decision is due by the end of the month.
“Those two airports are highly dependent on Irish people being able to travel mainly for family reasons to the UK and mainly incoming visitors from Germany and Italy. At the moment we are banning incoming visitors from Germany and people cannot travel to the UK United. . “
He also warned that further cuts in services in and out of Dublin cannot be ruled out.
“I think there is also a real risk of further capacity reductions outside of Dublin. Ireland is an island on the edge of Europe,” he said.
“We have been locked up like North Korea since July 1.”
“We’ve gone ahead with much lower load factors trying to keep our people in jobs, but I don’t think that’s possible as long as Eamon Ryan and this administration continue to mismanage the travel situation.”
Ryanair is doing everything it can to avoid job cuts, he said, but the company likely faces periods of unpaid leave or weeks of three or four days during the winter to try to keep the pilots and crew employed. cabin.
O’Leary said he does not accept that the government has to be as cautious with foreign travel as it has been and said that new restrictions in Dublin would be “frankly not enforceable.”
“The business must continue to operate,” he said. “But we as a nation must do more when it comes to using face masks; masks should be mandatory in almost all settings.”
O’Leary also said the process to reimburse passengers whose flights were canceled earlier in the year due to travel restrictions is nearly complete.
He said that 90% of passengers had received cash refunds or coupons by the end of July and all backlog of cash refund requests had been eliminated.
He added that there may still be some people who want to exchange their coupons for cash back, but the airline can now do it in seven days as the entire accumulation has been removed.
O’Leary dismissed reports that Italian authorities are investigating complaints about Ryanair’s adherence to public health requirements at certain airports, saying they are completely false.
“We are fully compliant with ECDC and EASA guidelines,” he said.
“We had a meeting yesterday with the Italian authorities who have fully accepted that we are fully complying with these measures.”
O’Leary said that no opposition was expressed at the General Shareholders’ Meeting to the payment of a bonus of 450,000 euros to him during the year until the end of March, even though a shareholder advisory group suggested before the meeting that it was difficult to justify. .
“My bonus has been reduced by 50%, my basic salary has been reduced by 75%, I am leading the pay cuts at Ryanair and I think it should be,” he said.
He added that the compensation report was approved by a margin of two to one.
When asked about a suggestion from broker Davy that Ryanair might seek to increase its orders for Boeing 737 Max jets, O’Leary said there are ongoing negotiations with the manufacturer.
“Certainly, there are negotiations on our existing orders, modifying the price of existing orders and also quantifying the compensation that we will receive for the long delay in the delivery of these aircraft, and we hope to conclude those negotiations by the end of the year,” he stated.
“But anything else is highly speculative.”
He said the airline expects to receive the first 737 Max aircraft in January or February next year, with 30-40 arriving before the summer to fuel growth.
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